IJF Miami Grand Prix gathered world class Judo athletes in Doral.

It never fails. There is nothing like the adrenaline rush you can feel when watching a final judo match, where the ceremonial protocol combines with the intensity of the fight between two strong athletes in Judogi that have worked very hard to reach this moment.

Last weekend in the Doral Country Club Resort and Spa, there were at stake not only medals or cash prizes, but the prestige of being recognized among the best in the world and the necessary points in the international arena to start the journey that will hopefully take the athletes to the Olympics in Rio 2016.

Being the first time a Judo Grand Prix took place in the United States, the International Judo Federation and USA Judo achieved a great success in athlete’s participation, event organization and extraordinary results for the local delegation. Marti Malloy won the Gold Medal on the -57Kg category and Colton Brown got the Bronze on the -90kg; those were the highlights of the weekend, bringing pride and excitement to a fervent crowd of local fans that filled the house, chanting ‘USA, USA’ to support their athletes in home soil.

On the days prior to the event, USA Judo organized a series of demonstrations and presentations on several parks and schools in Miami, where young judoka had the chance meet up close with their idols: Olympic Champion Kayla Harrison, first judoka to win an Olympic Gold Medal for the US; Marti Malloy, Olympic Bronze Medalist; Myles Porter, Silver Medalist in the Paralympics and Olympian Travis Stevens, the warrior.

Marti Malloy

Doral Family Journal had the opportunity to talk with these world class athletes about their Olympic experience, how their lives have changed in this year after coming back from London, their upcoming projects and their decision of embarking on this new journey that will hopefully, with hard work and dedication, take them to Rio 2016. They have done it already. And they will do it again!

Kayla Harrison and Marti Malloy: an inspiration to young athletes

They are so mature, so grown up. It was impressive to see how much they have changed since the interview we had with them right before the Olympics. When they think about it, they are grateful of the many opportunities that have opened for them after winning their Olympic medals, especially for Kayla Harrison, who is still in awe of having gone where no other American Judoka had gone before and bringing home the Olympic Gold Medal: “we have the opportunity to be inspirational figures to young kids, and for people’s life. I can’t think of a better thing to be than that”.

And Marti Malloy, Olympic Bronze Medalist and winner of the Gold in the Grand Prix adds “I would have never believed some things I have done. It makes you grow up. You compare how my life has changed now; I would say I feel a lot more content. At that time we were all so nervous and excited. Now I feel content. I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I see everything from a new perspective. I know you might want to hear ’I am much more busy’, which I think I have, but the biggest change I have noticed is how I feel about judo and where am I going next”.

Marti’s plans include pursuing her Master degree in Journalism and Mass Communications at San Jose State University in California, while continuing her Olympic preparation for Rio 2016. Her upcoming Judo events after the Grand Prix are her participation in July on the Grand Slam in Moscow and the World Championship in Brazil in August. She is busy indeed.

Kayla Harrison

Olympic Champion Kayla Harrison has received many accolades since coming back from London. She won the ‘Wilma Rudolph Courage Award’ from the Women’s Sports Foundation; was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was named one of Glamour Magazine Women of the year 2012. “This last year of my life has been an amazing ride. All those things have happened and I feel really content with my life. I have being given so many opportunities to give back and help people that have been through similar situations as me. I feel it is my responsibility to give back. So I think that out of everything has happened, my ability to speak up and be a voice for those who don’t have a voice is the most rewarding”.

Right after the Grand Slam Kayla had surgery on her knee and will be recovering before starting training for her next goal “Definitely Rio, the next Olympics”. During her recovery time she wants to focus on creating her foundation and writing a book on her life and experience overcoming abuse and rising to be a world class athlete and champion. “I have been giving a lot of speeches lately. The biggest piece of advice I can say is that there is always going to be challenges and roadblocks in life. Life is not easy, it sucks sometimes but if you believe in yourself and you surround with people who believe in you, you can achieve your greatest dream, anything. I am living proof”.

It is a delight interviewing them together as they are very good friends, mutually sharing words of support, admiration and encouragement and reflecting on what it means to be an icon of perseverance and success for many people, a realization they had recently, while doing presentations during the community outreach program they did in Miami prior to the Grand Slam.

Being introduced as the champions to the crowd of young athletes, seeing their admiring faces they saw themselves more than 15 years ago, when they had the chance of meeting Mike Swain and Jimmy Pedro, also Olympians and now their coaches. It just sunk in they are role models for a whole new generation of judoka in the US.

“You just think of yourself like you. I think and feel of myself the same way as before, but it puts me on perspective. It kind of hits me when people say something like ‘you changed my life or ever since I saw you fight I have been so inspired’ “says Marti.

And Kayla adds “It is honoring when people ask ‘would you take a picture with my baby?’. People wave and smile to you. It is an honor to me that people respect me enough and thinks highly enough of me to ask that”.

These young women can definitely divide their lives in before and after London 2012. Kayla defines it as “a big divider, a highlight in my life. I think we changed in a good way”; while Marti says “We are not the same people. We have a different outlook, different perspective, and different goals”.

“Traveling the world together we had an amazing experience” concludes Marti. It has been an experience that brought them together as friends, who support and inspire each other to continue achieving many more goals in the upcoming years.

Myles Porter and Travis Stevens

Travis and Myles: “Judo takes you to the ends of the Earth and back”

Travis Stevens might have come back empty handed from London, but he is the champion to all his adoring fans who still question the call the referee made on that semifinal against Ole Bischoff. In spite of how devastated he felt about it, he bounced back.

“I started taking up Jiu-jitsu full time. I own 2 schools in New Jersey and one in Boston. Those are my daily activities besides doing judo. We are preparing a DVD for Jiu-jitsu players with Jimmy Pedro. I am pretty busy.” says Travis. He did not participate on the Grand Prix due to an ankle injury and expects to be fully recovered for the World Championship this August. “The plan right now is to be ready for Rio 2016”.

A plan shared by Paralympic Silver Medalist Myles Porter: “I am training for Rio. After London I got to come back and be able to help kids with visual impairment around the country. USA Judo wanted me to be an ambassador for the sport, and show that even being visually impaired, I can fight adversity. I am going to participate on the Grand Prix; and hope I can get back my points. The ultimate goal is to go in the Olympics. I loved going to the Paralympics, but that is the stepping stone of something better. I want to make it to Rio as one of Travis’ team mates. I want to represent the US twice in the same year; they can’t do it, but I can because I am visually impaired. It might be a disability but it still is my advantage”.

The road of competitive judo “will take you to the ends of the Earth and back” says Travis, but is a journey worth training hard for. And Myles concludes “Judo is for everybody. No matter if you want to be an Olympic champion or just a recreational player. It opens up the whole world for you”.

The next event USA Judo will host in Doral is the Cadet World Championship in August, where the best young athletes of the world, between 15 and 17 years old, will gather in the US to compete for qualification to participate in the Youth Olympic Games that will take place in China in 2014. For them it is the first step to reach the high level that Judo stars of today have. For the public it will be the chance to get the adrenaline rush again. And to take notes on the names that will shine in the future of Judo worldwide.